old Coca Cola Bottles

[DemonWolfe]

Went to a auction a couple weeks ago and they had hundreds of old coke bottles and other pop bottles and nobody bid on them so they were going to throw them away and I grabbed several of them. Now my question is how do you determine if they are valuable and where do I sell them. I don't really need them nor do I have a fancy collection to add them to. I did sell one old coke bottle on ebay, but there are so many for sale on there, yours may never even be seen through all the clutter. I would love to keep them, but my whole point in getting them was to sell them, I was in a bad accident a couple months ago and cannot work used to do scrap metals but I cant walk or drive right now so I figured I would try this instead. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Some of the other bottles were old RC Cola bottles, 7UP, Frosties, NEHI, and Mountain Dew. Thanks.

 

[creeper71]

Went to a auction a couple weeks ago and they had hundreds of old coke bottles and other pop bottles and nobody bid on them so they were going to throw them away and I grabbed several of them. Now my question is how do you determine if they are valuable and where do I sell them. I don't really need them nor do I have a fancy collection to add them to. I did sell one old coke bottle on ebay, but there are so many for sale on there, yours may never even be seen through all the clutter. I would love to keep them, but my whole point in getting them was to sell them, I was in a bad accident a couple months ago and cannot work used to do scrap metals but I cant walk or drive right now so I figured I would try this instead. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Some of the other bottles were old RC Cola bottles, 7UP, Frosties, NEHI, and Mountain Dew. Thanks.

Prices vary on varations of each soda brand an style no one can give a good answer without seeing the bottles...

 

[SODABOTTLEBOB]

DemonWolfe ~

Are your Coca Cola bottles embossed or painted label? The smaller (6 oz - 6 1/2 oz) embossed ones are the most collectible. And the smaller the town on the base, the better. Plus the dates are a major factor as well. See the chart below for the five different embossed bottles (hobbleskirts) and the dates they were issued. You can determine which bottle is which by the information that is embossed on the main body of the label under the Coca Cola script. Issue dates are usually on the side where the bottles curve in and often look like this 23 <(I)> 42 Which in this example would be a 1942 bottle. The older ones 1915 - 1923 most likely have the date code around the outer base or "heel." And, as always, one picture is worth a thousand words. I may be interested in some of them if I knew exactly what you have and their condition. Typically I am only interested in near-mint examples.

SBB

{Five variations of embossed only hobbleskirts}

 

[creeper71]

DemonWolfe ~

Are your Coca Cola bottles embossed or painted label? The smaller (6 oz - 6 1/2 oz) embossed ones are the most collectible. And the smaller the town on the base, the better. Plus the dates are a major factor as well. See the chart below for the five different embossed bottles (hobbleskirts) and the dates they were issued. You can determine which bottle is which by the information that is embossed on the main body of the label under the Coca Cola script. Issue dates are usually on the side where the bottles curve in and often look like this 23 <(I)> 42 Which in this example would be a 1942 bottle. The older ones 1915 - 1923 most likely have the date code around the outer base or "heel." And, as always, one picture is worth a thousand words. I may be interested in some of them if I knew exactly what you have and their condition. Typically I am only interested in near-mint examples.

SBB

{Five variations of embossed only hobbleskirts}

99% the time a bottle is only worth something if it is in near mint....

 

[SODABOTTLEBOB]

Creeper71 ~ Please do not take this personal. It is intended to be educational for all.

This is what I call ...

"A 1% BOTTLE"

I agree with you for the most part. About 99% of the 500 soda bottles in my collection are in near-mint condition. However, there are also "rare exceptions." Meaning that about 99% of the bottle collectors I know all have a few bottles that might be described as "junk" but are in fact some of their most valuable bottles. Take for example the "30 Below" displayed here. On a scale of 1 to 10 I grade it a 4. And yet it is the rarest acl soda bottle in my entire collection. In it's present condition it is valued at about $125.00. In near-mint condition it would be worth about $750.00. I know collectors who have been looking for one of these (in any condition) for ten years or more, but have never come across one. The odds of me finding one in near-mint condition are about a million to one! So this is a good example of when rarity outweighs condition.

SBB

{30 Below - 1930s - San Bernardino and San Diego, Ca. - Ex-Rare} {2nd photo is from a book}

 

[SODABOTTLEBOB]

Here is a list of Coca Cola hobbleskirt bottles I am looking for.

~ * ~

~ OLD ROUTE 66 STATES/TOWNS THAT HAD COCA COLA BOTTLERS ~

Route 66 was first established in 1926

(Does not include alternate alignments of highway that varied over the years).

STATES/TOWNS OF INTEREST TO ME

ILLINOIS ~
Bloomington - Chicago - Joliet - Springfield

MISSOURI ~
Joplin - Lebanon - Lincoln - Litchfield - Springfield - St. Louis

OKLAHOMA ~
Clinton - El Reno - Miami - Oklahoma City - Sapulpa - Sayre - Stroud - Tulsa - Vinita

TEXAS ~
Amarillo - Shamrock

NEW MEXICO ~
Albuquerque - Gallup - Tucumcari

ARIZONA ~
Flagstaff - Holbrook - Kingman

CALIFORNIA ~
Barstow - Needles - Los Angeles - San Bernardino

Not every bottler above made all five variations. The majority will be D-Patent - 6 oz - and 6 ½ oz bottles. But I would be interested in hearing about 1915s and 1923s as well.

Thanks,

SBB

{A "Real" Hobble Skirt - Circa 1910 Postcard}

 

[creeper71]

Creeper71 ~ Please do not take this personal. It is intended to be educational for all.

This is what I call ...

"A 1% BOTTLE"

I agree with you for the most part. About 99% of the 500 soda bottles in my collection are in near-mint condition. However, there are also "rare exceptions." Meaning that about 99% of the bottle collectors I know all have a few bottles that might be described as "junk" but are in fact some of their most valuable bottles. Take for example the "30 Below" displayed here. On a scale of 1 to 10 I grade it a 4. And yet it is the rarest acl soda bottle in my entire collection. In it's present condition it is valued at about $125.00. In near-mint condition it would be worth about $750.00. I know collectors who have been looking for one of these (in any condition) for ten years or more, but have never come across one. The odds of me finding one in near-mint condition are about a million to one! So this is a good example of when rarity outweighs condition.

SBB

{30 Below - 1930s - San Bernardino and San Diego, Ca. - Ex-Rare} {2nd photo is from a book}

was this meant for me or to educate others? That is why you need to know all your local bottles... can be a good one in the "junk" bin

 

[SODABOTTLEBOB]

Creeper71 ~

It was addressed to you because you were the one who brought up the 99% factor. But it was really intended for anyone who feels that bottles have to be in near-mint condition to be collectible and valuable. I used my "30 Below" as an example of this. I paid $75.00 for that crappy looking thing and have already been offered $150.00 for it by a local collector. I wouldn't sell it for $250.00 even if it was offered to me. Based on everything I know about that particular bottle, I realize now I will probably never find another one.

As I do not know you, I don't know if you even collect bottles. And if you do whether you have ten or ten thousand. And yes, I know of many collectors who literally have thousands of bottles that make my measly 500 pale in comparison. I also know that extremely rare bottles are highly collectible no matter what the condition. I saw a rare Dr Pepper bottle on e-bay once that had a busted-off top and it still sold for about $200.00.

No real educating here on my part ... Just "Sharing."

Thanks,

Bob

 

[diggummup]

Went to a auction a couple weeks ago and they had hundreds of old coke bottles and other pop bottles and nobody bid on them so they were going to throw them away and I grabbed several of them. Now my question is how do you determine if they are valuable and where do I sell them. I don't really need them nor do I have a fancy collection to add them to. I did sell one old coke bottle on ebay, but there are so many for sale on there, yours may never even be seen through all the clutter. I would love to keep them, but my whole point in getting them was to sell them, I was in a bad accident a couple months ago and cannot work used to do scrap metals but I cant walk or drive right now so I figured I would try this instead. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Some of the other bottles were old RC Cola bottles, 7UP, Frosties, NEHI, and Mountain Dew. Thanks.

 

[SODABOTTLEBOB]

diggummup ~

This ones for you. And I agree; I'd like to see some of those "hundreds" of bottles myself. Especially if any of them are the Route 66 ones I am looking for. But if DemonWolfe only bought a few of them then I guess this thread is dead anyway. I'm just trying to keep it going becaused I am obsessed with finding Route 66 examples any place I can find them. Most of the ones on e-bay are too difficult to sort through because the sellers don't title them properly. Meaning you have to open each listing just to find out where it was made. That is a pain in the keester that I very seldom do anymore.

The pic below is a sampling of Bill Porter's collection (Bill is the guru of hobbleskirts) and shows how he displays his bottles so the base names are facing out. Bill has compiled a great book listing most of the known hobbleskirts with rarity factors and a value formula. He has hundreds if not thousands of those little green boogers. Lol

SBB

 

[creeper71]

Creeper71 ~

It was addressed to you because you were the one who brought up the 99% factor. But it was really intended for anyone who feels that bottles have to be in near-mint condition to be collectible and valuable. I used my "30 Below" as an example of this. I paid $75.00 for that crappy looking thing and have already been offered $150.00 for it by a local collector. I wouldn't sell it for $250.00 even if it was offered to me. Based on everything I know about that particular bottle, I realize now I will probably never find another one.

As I do not know you, I don't know if you even collect bottles. And if you do whether you have ten or ten thousand. And yes, I know of many collectors who literally have thousands of bottles that make my measly 500 pale in comparison. I also know that extremely rare bottles are highly collectible no matter what the condition. I saw a rare Dr Pepper bottle on e-bay once that had a busted-off top and it still sold for about $200.00.

No real educating here on my part ... Just "Sharing."

Thanks,

Bob

I collect but only been doing it for a few years, but I was taught the ropes by a collector of 15 + years ...it was a crash course but I still know all the basics an stuff... When I wrote that about 99% I was just making a statement to everyone to let them know that just because it is old it may not be worth anything an with chips an cracks it maybe worth alot less....

 

[creeper71]

Went to a auction a couple weeks ago and they had hundreds of old coke bottles and other pop bottles and nobody bid on them so they were going to throw them away and I grabbed several of them. Now my question is how do you determine if they are valuable and where do I sell them. I don't really need them nor do I have a fancy collection to add them to. I did sell one old coke bottle on ebay, but there are so many for sale on there, yours may never even be seen through all the clutter. I would love to keep them, but my whole point in getting them was to sell them, I was in a bad accident a couple months ago and cannot work used to do scrap metals but I cant walk or drive right now so I figured I would try this instead. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Some of the other bottles were old RC Cola bottles, 7UP, Frosties, NEHI, and Mountain Dew. Thanks.

I agree, that is basicly what I said in first post, I just didn't want to come out an say it...lol

 

[SODABOTTLEBOB]

Creeper71 ~

Thanks. It's great to know we are all on the same page. And speaking of pages, this is another one to help keep things going until DemonWolfe gets back from his sheep killing spree. Lol (Yikes! I hope he finds that amusing). I realize the main thing here is in seeing pics of DW's bottles, but I could talk endlessly about Coca Cola if given the chance. Below is a picture of their various bottles throughout the years. If you ever come across one of their first Hutchinson types, 1899-1902 (even if chipped or ratty looking) be sure and snag it because one of those puppies in great shape is worth about $2000.00+ these days.

SBB

{Coca Cola Lineup}

 

[creeper71]

Creeper71 ~

Thanks. It's great to know we are all on the same page. And speaking of pages, this is another one to help keep things going until DemonWolfe gets back from his sheep killing spree. Lol (Yikes! I hope he finds that amusing). I realize the main thing here is in seeing pics of DW's bottles, but I could talk endlessly about Coca Cola if given the chance. Below is a picture of their various bottles throughout the years. If you ever come across one of their first Hutchinson types, 1899-1902 (even if chipped or ratty looking) be sure and snag it because one of those puppies in great shape is worth about $2000.00+ these days.

SBB

{Coca Cola Lineup}

I don't remember but what is the candy store bottle that is suppose to be the orginal first coca cola bottle?? I could do a google search but I don't feel like it...lol

 

[SODABOTTLEBOB]

Biedenharn's Candy Co. (See pics below) But the bottles with the Coca Cola script are worth more because some of the Biedenharn's may have contained other "labels." Whereas the signature one's were exclusive to Cola Cola. The most valuable of all Coca Cola bottles is the one I use for my namesake. It's the prototype of the very first hobbleskirt from 1915. It was deemed unusable because it was too wide and top heavy. It didn't work well on the bottle handling machines of the day and would topple over real easy. There are only about five known examples of this prototype (one for sure in the Coca Cola museum in Atlanta, Georgia). No set value has ever been determined for them that I know of, but is estimated to be somewhere in the $5000.00 to $10,000.00 price range. (Seriously). It is considered the rarest - most sought after, and most valuable soda bottle in the entire world. (Of course, I don't have any of them, and few collectors do).

SBB

 

[SODABOTTLEBOB]

Speaking of labels ... can you tell which of the two shown below is original and which is fake? Note: Don't look at the picture caption beneath the pic until you study them first. (But now that I've said this, how can you but look at the title?) Lol Easy ... just don't scroll that far down yet!

 

[creeper71]

Biedenharn's Candy Co. (See pics below) But the bottles with the Coca Cola script are worth more because some of the Biedenharn's may have contained other "labels." Whereas the signature one's were exclusive to Cola Cola. The most valuable of all Coca Cola bottles is the one I use for my namesake. It's the prototype of the very first hobbleskirt from 1915. It was deemed unusable because it was too wide and top heavy. It didn't work well on the bottle handling machines of the day and would topple over real easy. There are only about five known examples of this prototype (one for sure in the Coca Cola museum in Atlanta, Georgia). No set value has ever been determined for them that I know of, but is estimated to be somewhere in the $5000.00 to $10,000.00 price range. (Seriously). It is considered the rarest - most sought after, and most valuable soda bottle in the entire world. (Of course, I don't have any of them, and few collectors do).
SBB

yeah that is it..I was thinking birgaminton for some reason, but I knew that was not correct

 

[creeper71]

Speaking of labels ... can you tell which of the two shown below is original and which is fake? Note: Don't look at the picture caption beneath the pic until you study them first. (But now that I've said this, how can you but look at the title?) Lol Easy ... just don't scroll that far down yet!

don't mean much but I would have said left cause the print is to light...but it is a good copy

 

[SODABOTTLEBOB]

The Biedenharn's were introduced around 1894. The signature hutch's came out around 1899. And even though the 1915 hobbleskirt's have that "patent date" on them, they actually didn't get distrubuted until 1917. There were four slight variations to follow over the years, and were used until about 1955 when the first painted label (acls) came into being. However, it took some time for the transition from embossed bottles to acls, so there are examples of embossed bottles as late as about 1960.

Question: Why do you think it took Coca Cola so long to switch from embossed bottles to painted label bottles in 1955 when everyone else was switching over as early as about 1935 thru 1940?

 

[DemonWolfe]

I dont know how much this one was actually worth but sold it on ebay for 20.50. sorry pictures arent better, phone takes crappy photos this one didnt have a date on it but had coca cola embossed on the bottom, and had a blueish tint to it